Madam, – I have been struck by the recent furore that has been created over proposals for a workplace parking levy (WPL) and tourist tax.
It demonstrates how little some in Holyrood have grown up when it comes to empowering councils.
The Conservatives, true to form, have used these proposals as a means to beat the Scottish Government over the head.
It will damage the economy, hurt the low paid and prove unworkable – the normal refrains we have grown used to.
However, as many will be aware, many European cities such as Paris and Berlin already have a tourist tax, and councils in England have had the power since 2000 to set a WPL, although Nottingham is the only one to have done so to date.
These taxes are an optional charge for councils to set and when it comes to a WPL, NHS workers and hospitals will be exempt and it will only apply to employees with more than a certain number of spaces.
As in Nottingham, income generated by the scheme will be hypothecated for spending on transport schemes.
It is hard to imagine any councils pushing forward with WPL and tourist tax schemes, which will take a number of years to impose, in the face of strong public resistance.
The Tories talk of the need to “empower councils” but seem to have collective amnesia when it comes to turning such fine words into practice.
Local governments across Europe raise and collect numerous taxes, it is normal.
Twenty years after devolution it is time to let our councils get on with it.
Alex Orr.
2 Marchmont Road
Edinburgh.
High Street has too many shops
Madam, – There has been a lot written about the regeneration of Kirkcaldy High Street since the recent sale of the Postings and the closure of Marks and Spencer. The fact is, like many towns up and down the country, Kirkcaldy has too many shops. With 20% of retail trade now online and shopping patterns changing we just do not need so many shops.
Kirkcaldy High Street cannot compete with the unlimited free parking and convenient shopping experience that Chapel Level can provide.
If Kirkcaldy High Street is to survive the planners have to acknowledge that chain stores and many multiple retailers now reside at Chapel Level and other users have to be found for the High Street. There is just no way large retailers will be enticed there unless footfall can be increased considerably.
Maybe a mix of individual or boutique shops, restaurants and leisure facilities, with some housing, is the way forward?
Possibly the High Street needs reopening to cars, and main car parks need to be free in order to attract shoppers back to the town centre?
Whatever the answer, Kirkcaldy High Street, and others like it, have to adapt to the new world and hopefully Fife Council will quickly pull all interested parties together and come up with a strategy soon.
Martin Dibley.
56 High Street East,
Anstruther.
Repeating the same old lies
Madam, – Bryan Auchterlonie (Letters February 8) bemoans the contributions to these pages of the regular Scotland in Union cabal of correspondents. We can add Messrs Clements and Sutherland to his list of organised letter writers.
They are little more than a series of ad hominem attacks with no corroboration.
The line that Scotland is incapable of functioning as an independent country has to be held, despite all the contradictory evidence. This unconvincing non-stop barrage has the additional aim of deflecting attention from London’s ongoing catastrophic rule.
Laughably, this dishonest approach results in projects like the Queensferry Crossing (proposed, financed and built by our SNP government) being vilified from beginning to end, to be then appropriated, wrapped in a Union Jack and presented to the world as the Best of British.
With such brass neck, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if blame for the HS2 shambles is eventually laid at the SNP’s door.
There are positive contributions, however. Talking up Scotland, a blog, will more than satisfy Mr Auchterlonie’s needs.
Scotland in Union and the establishment they support have nothing to offer Scots in this regard.
There is no positive argument for this union. It is and always has been, to put it simply, a lie.
Ken Clark.
15 Thorter Way,
Dundee.
Biased and out of touch
Madam, – Most independence supporters believe the BBC is biased in favour of the Union.
Given that support for independence probably runs not far short of 50% in Scotland, this is a problem for the BBC, particularly given they will shortly be launching their new Scottish TV channel.
Personally, I have never been too upset about the perceived bias: the clue is in the name, the British Broadcasting Corporation, it is based in London, with an underfunded branch office in Glasgow, and, sadly, I have low expectations.
But we have the right to expect better than the recent Question Time programme filmed in Motherwell, which did not reflect in any way the state of Scotland today.
The panel was made up of three unionists, Michael Forsyth, formerly Mrs Thatcher’s man in Scotland, the local Labour MP, a journalist from the Times who identified himself as a unionist, a bright and articulate young lady who was a bit out of her depth on such a politicised stage, and Scottish Government minister Fiona Hyslop, who conducted herself well, but seemed a bit shell-shocked at the tirades coming at her, which Fiona Bruce, in the chair, did nothing to moderate.
Motherwell voted for independence in the Scottish referendum, and remain in the Brexit referendum, yet the audience was heavily weighted in favour of the Union and Brexit.
A gentleman sitting in the front row, who spoke strongly against independence, has been identified as a former Ukip candidate, who has been selected to speak on QT at least four times in the last few years.
There have been similar complaints about the BBC for years, with no obvious effort to recognise the changed political reality in Scotland.
I hope the new channel will have more content produced in Scotland, and more balance, because, if it doesn’t, it is likely to fail.
Les Mackay.
5 Carmichael Gardens,
Dundee.
No need for a border at all
Madam, – We now know the main reasons given in 2014 for retaining Westminster rule were either misinformation or downright lies.
Mike Gardner (Letters, February 8) resurrects one of these: Will there be a border?
If the UK and the EU are agreed there will never be a border between Northern Ireland (UK) and the Republic of Ireland (EU), then why would there be one between Scotland and England?
Andrew Collins.
Skinners Steps,
Cupar.
